union. i am a member of european parliament but i think european parliament is not a true parliament is a bit like a supreme soviet or as bad as the former soviet union but. elements all of this so there are parallels with yugoslavia i'm afraid but it is extremely dangerous as we've seen with the euro to force such divergent nations together i think the tensions you create economic and political opera family dangerous but surely you're not predicting that he will end in a pleasant concert i certainly hope not but you know i've been involved in the peace process in northern ireland i worked in government and i've seen what happens when democracy fails and i believe democracy is failing in the european union because national sensitivities are being overridden we saw it in our learned how they said no to those in treaty and then they were invited to get the right answer and they had to have another referendum and they said yes and look at the mess that under is now in but effectively it's a contempt for democracy that worries me most you know we are democratic party in ukip and the real reason f

there is switzerland and they're not in european union norway norton new european union what was saying really is we want to different relationship with the european union we do not want to be within this political superstate united states of europe with its flag and its and its parliament and its president and all of that we don't want that we want a perfect amicable friend the trading arrangement with the you just like switzerland has. but we don't want the politics you know about is really submerging our country way of doing things our judicial system and our culture within this super state we don't want and we don't need that i was you say we are the largest trading partner britain is with the continental e.u. we are in the prime position to actually have a perfectly respectable and very amiable free trade agreement free trade agreement many are saying that we've only seen the beginning of process against austerity measures. on the streets are you one of them or do you think it's going to allow this in two thousand and eleven i think it will get worse and i do fear you know you have

if you compare the european union to the former yugoslavia where do you think the similarities lie i think what it's about is actually trying to force a very different countries together very different economies together under one state to state effectively the united states of europe with quite an element the soviet union to it i am a member of european parliament but i think european parliament is not a true parliament is a bit like a supreme soviet or as bad as the former soviet union but. elements all of this so there are parallels with yugoslavia i'm afraid but it is extremely dangerous as we've seen with the euro to force such divergent nations together i think the tensions you create economic and political opera found the dangerous but surely you're not predicting that the will end in a bloody concert. i certainly hope not but you know i've been involved in the peace process in northern ireland i worked in government and i've seen what happens when democracy fails and i believe democracy is failing in the european union because national sensitivities are being overridden we sa

no need for stronger governance structures in the european union or solidarity. but this myth avoids three basic problems. first, the recent global crisis revealed some of the missing bricks in the architecture of the common currency. without at the same time having a common treasury. an attempt to replace the latter with coordinated fiscal and structural policies which haven't worked as efficiently as we would have liked. at the same time fiscal expansion was used to combat the weak demand that accompanied the financial crisis. secondly, the problems are much wider, much more diverse than simply fiscal consolidation at the national level. let me mention a few. high anxiety. insecurity in the markets. insecurity in our populations. prophecy of doom. market worries of future debt. growth potential of the economies, credit rating agencies that are accountable to no one yet they are behind closed doors and their actions can profoundly affect economies. we see that today. tax evasion and particularly tax havens. we the governments are in need to collect revenue and w

there is no guarantee they will not do that. >> hungry and the european union looked to have called a truce. their purpose fund the battle until a future date. but now there are concerns about the fragility of concrete fell democracy. the prime minister mounted a strong defense of his country's democratic credentials, but there is a growing sensitivity here -- a feeling that the relatively short duration of the democratic experience in the years since communism means it is coming in for unfair criticism. >> i am a democrat. i think we became a member of this community because we do belong to europe for a long time. we do not want to defend ourselves that we are europeans. we are in the heart of europe. in all measures and all values, we share the common values of the european union. >> there is no way of sweetening the bitter pill of austerity, not just for hungary, but much of the european union as well any new laws implemented will be watched closely. amid all the european governments, they must focus on the central economic challenges ahead. jonathan marcus, bbc news. >> america as

is probably why this report has seen the light of day we should remember that the european union has really got has got a poor record in terms of establishing the truth of what of the yugoslav situation from ninety ninety one when it's a commission said that course it wasn't entitled to independence recognizing it or the majority of its members recognizing the independence of fake state. just a few a few years later so the european union has got a bad record in terms of allowing all kinds of anti serbian activities and demonization to go on and that is indeed the problem for the european union because after all the demonization all the socialization of one sided in that civil war in that war aided and abetted from outside how do those leading lights of the e.u. go back home in their previous mistakes how can they say will they ever be prepared to say we were wrong we created a fake state based on ethnic cleansing everybody not albanian in it we gave it to national national extremists to create a gangster paradise a drug runners paradise or a place where sex slavery and organ harvesti

that involves basically three entities three countries russia ukraine and the european union. any solution to the ukrainian transit system that meets the needs of all three russia ukraine and the european union in an open and transparent way i think would be a very positive thing you know we know that our friends in ukraine are you know are not happy about the idea of a south stream pipeline because of the effect that it would have on the effect that it would have on france at three ukraine well what would make a south stream pipeline ultimately less necessary would be a secure transit system that met the needs of all three russia ukraine and european union scribes that through ukraine so any solution which satisfied the needs of those three again in an open and transparent way i think would be optimal and i could have vision a situation as i mentioned earlier there's a nord stream pipeline now. there could be secure transit through crane there could be russian participation as a partner in the projects going you know coming from the south and then i think everybody could be i

at official candidacy for membership european union beginning talks with cause of all our service tall goals for two thousand and eleven so r.t. said down was the country's president boris tadic to hear more about belgrade's road towards the e.u. and the challenges the nation faces. but is that the church serbian president thank you very much for being with us today thanks a lot mr president it's been two years since kosovo's independence was recognized and back then there was a lot of talk about the don't know a fact about the threat of destabilisation in the region and that none of that happened why do you think was it right to make such a fuss in the first place in the beginning of the domino effect is still existing as a threat for everybody not only in the region of southeast europe but also everywhere and from the whole real concerns both to take into consideration of how we react to the army unit out of the original independence thing that we are trying to prevent problems. i mean should be a consistent policy that means we are totally against partition of all countries of the m

of the intention to become a member state the future puno be should know that the pro-choice european union countries very much taking to the consideration our relations with the russian historical relations very close relations and culture relations no one can make any problem seeing death respect this is not changeable policy and be sure of the survey's going to be very very close partner of russia true future and future history and we should have and continue to have special little course i have extremely close relations with your present to your prime minister we have a very very good conversation and we agreed on many many issues and we are going to continue our force in that direction so this is a quote from your end. for you that balkan integration into the day all the way to settle the disputes and we should all be integrated into europe and look for pragmatic ways out singleton is there now why do you think it's possible to settle the issue that one country couldn't solve on its own within the e.u. boundaries only to a dialogue we can solve the problem is that it's not the fact thi

well the other question would be should the european union and the international community sit back ando nothing in the face of these rigged elections and the brutal bloodshed that is followed with six of the nine presidential candidates being imprisoned some seven hundred arrests have taken place i can't sit here and tell you that these sanctions and actions definitely were the war i can't see that in our absence of agreeing them would put the responsibility onerous responsibilities or his regime very much start one of his one of them is a look at china has demonstrated in the past this is a resolve to stay in power take in what you say just now but could these new sanctions be cornering him into clamping down on democracy even more of the opposite of. well what we know is that the group's helsinki committee has been warned to listen to the threat of croatia so this is a man and a regime which is seeking to suppress human rights creates free expression by civil society political opposition but it is doing that anyway and that what we need to do is to be seeing to say that the european

indeed for being with us here in the program nigel now as we can see there is no unity in the european union as far as this fund is concerned so how much of a chance is there that it might actually be created against germany's unwillingness to do so. what in the end you see is german politicians that will make these decisions not the german people i'm quite certain that if at any point in time the german people have been asked initially whether they want to give up the deutschmark they have said no and if you ask the german people now do they want to pick up a liability that in financial terms will be six times bigger than the liability they picked up when eastern germany joined them twenty years ago again will be no so my guess is that the german finance minister the german chancellor will make skeptical noises will voice a bit of disagreement but in the end my guess is they will go along with it because they are part of this european political class that have created this monster. and in the end they're going to do whatever they can. while speaking out find i mean the decision to expand it

and also european union is trying to to build a kind of a european superstate each which is not the genius of european civilization europe is a place where has been invented the equal to it the equality equal dignity and cerinthus of nations and i think we should retain the spot of european culture as a member of a far right party and as a law professor what do you have to say to those who would use violence to pursue their means condemn the violence that is quite clear and we never use violence against anybody against the aliens for in years or ponens very often we are subjected to violence for example against us from the far left although there are people also coming from right and left conservative and progressive in our party were just patreus we would live the french be first in france exactly the russians remain the masters of their own destiny and as a people we absolutely have no sympathy towards this kind of violence even mention of course just now that you want the french to be prominent and for c n n france and you've also said that you're not extremist you're not ant

european union finance ministers are meeting in brussels to discuss the proposal to boost the e.u. bailout fund the e.u. commission says the existing one won't be able to provide a loan if the struggling eurozone members like spain and portugal need help they're ready concerns from germany which is pushing for a more comprehensive approach where for more insight on this story we can now talk to god. and the hunger for the u.k. independence party thanks very much indeed for joining us here on our team now the german finance minister has actually said he was somewhat surprised by this latest proposal are you. well i can't say that i'm surprised but of course this bailout fund is really a huge bucket of money which the only people that putting serious qualms of money into it the germans and of course the germans are getting cross because the hole at the bottom of the budget of the bucket so what's actually happening it doesn't matter how much money you put into this huge bailout bucket it's not going to work until somebody seals up the holes at the bottom so i think the german taxpaye

for a common belorussians to establish closer ties we citizens of european union are talking about those citations imposed back in two thousand and six he's still there so the sanctions haven't worked is it likely that these sanctions will work and we will anything but the russian leadership listen. i think he would probably listen when the sanctions hurt where it hurts most and that's economy however the the chief european diplomat catherine ashton has already indicated that the european bloc is not interested in imposing sanctions that would hurt the economy and thereby their livelihood of the russians so he would have peer that most of the sanctions will have political nature and they would the block will try to continue its pressure until at least most of the political prisoners are really the better routes can play a strong card here call me it's an important transit nation for russian oil and gas supplies to europe could they not use this important strategic position for for economic blackmail. they could but not now i mean at the moment. and his regime decided to ignore and

european union finance ministers are meeting in brussels to discuss boosting their bailout fund after the european commission said the current one is too small if more countries such as spain and portugal needed in the agency funding when i spoke to. the european parliament for the u.k. independence party nothing will save the euro because the single currency project was flawed from the start. this bailout fund is really a huge bucket of money which the only people putting serious corners of money into it the germans calls the germans are getting cross because the whole of the bottom of the bucket so what's actually happening it doesn't matter how much money you put into this huge bailout bucket it's not going to work until somebody seals up the holes at the bottom of the broke the portuguese broke the spanish broke the greeks broke the broke so it's plain to see that nothing's actually working the only thing that was working at the moment is the german economy and the dutch economy and some of the coal country is everything else is going badly wrong as i said it would do ten years ag

for president of serbia having in the mind to mean so digital is to become a member state of european union to defend to talking to you considering to my country i'm going to continue my efforts in that direction while in two thousand and eight in every single one of your interviews you set that seven approach percent of your people off serbs thought that kosovo was the main problem major problem in the country and like your later this number dropped to six percent why is that i mean if you're talking about people that. mentioning course was a main problem of the country different opinion polls in boss fury or you have to know that serbia is very much affected because if economical crisis and in that respect the old serbian people and the citizens suffer thinking that economic crises. unemployment and the kind of problems the talk before are joined and this is a totally true without strong economy and the real development you cannot defend your state and the national interests and that is why we are trying to solve the problems like all other countries all around the world but people are no

. >>> the start of hungary's presidency of the european union has been marked by ceremonies in budapest but overshadowed by criticism. at the media laws concede -- the new media laws are concedeare sn as an attack on freedom of the press. >> six months when hungary will be squarely in european spot light when they assume the presidency. when the hungarian prime minister arrived at a press conference, it was the media that was the subject of the debate. the new media law is seen as a full-scale assault on the freedom of the press. he has had to fight off criticism from home and abroad. >> the authority of the hon. media companies are now bigger than any european country. if it turns out the european commission requests us to change it, we will consider that. >> his defense of the new legislation has not convinced journalists. the prime minister's claim only to have better retention has met with skepticism. >> imagine i live in a neighborhood where somebody is walking around with a huge gun and they say i will not use it on you because i am a good guy. they say they want to implement thos

room does exist at the level of european union. european union possibility. if we fair it to the united states, there's no federal debt. we have to take a strong initiative to open the growth chapter of the european union growth. even the stability part is doomed to fail. markets will only calm down if they are convinced that the union is capable to return to the path both of stability and growth. only by combining stability and growth, political and social stability can be secured. finally we will have -- we should use all of the possible tools in a tool box to make our efforts successful. and here there is an open discussion on a number of tools. i'd like to mention them. the financial transaction tax, a tool which would give resources to the european union. very important. tax on co2 or the so-called greenhouse gases tax. another resource which would also help us move towards green development, but also create own resources for the european union. there's growing as an effective instrument to help europe achieve major objectives. euro bonds will help proje

the government is on fire since it accepted a massive bailout from the european union and the imf. prime minister brian cowen has struggled to hold his government together. six cabinet members resigned this week alone. the political situation is described as the last days of the worst government in the history of the state. earlier on, we wer talki aboupresident hu jintao's visit to the u.s. and chinese currency was a big topic. >> i have been talking business, but also economics. the currency issue remains. manipulation by chinese authorities was a prickly topic. i do not think there will get far with it. as the yuan goes, markets do not expect it will l se significantly against the dollar this year because the chinese are worried about inflation. the smallerurrey would reduce the trade advantage and attract huge amounts of investor cash into china, forcing the government to raise interest rates to counter inflation. meanwhile, china's economy is sizzling. it picked up speed at the end of 2010. >> the construction industry is booming in china, with lots of money in circulation. pe

there is enough gas in that area to come in the european union if the member states of the european unionare ready to cooperate with those countries and others to make that project available or other projects of the south corridor. >> thank you very much. the last question. >> translator: thank you, president. as evermore european families of economic crisis spend more than 10% of their monthly incomes for the energy bills, i'd like to ask you, what are the concrete steps that european commission has viewed in order to reduce energy poverty? let me ask you if you view the increase of the percentage of the european region of developments to be used by the member states to increase the energy efficiency of their dwellings starting with the future financial perspective, thank you. >> energy is standards of consumer protection with regard to the provision of the minimum service transparency of billing, handling, so on and so forth and provides choices to consumers, and i could quote many other areas where we are proposing measures directly addressing concerns of consumers. regarding lower ene

>> in european union, institution, it governs its own responsibilities. e european commission has separate response those to present what it believes for euro area and for european union. and so in documents regarding the annual gross survey we express our opinion. i think we now don't have the right, we have to do. so this is what we have done, and i think, in fact this was are received by the markets. we've seen before because they understood that least now there was a willingness to move in this light in all aspects. including on efsf. we need to do more on that matter. this is not only the opinion of the commission by the way, it was expressed in terms fix i hope that member states will come to agreement. [speaking in native tongue] >> translator: mr. barrasso, i fully accept that you have your own opinion and have the right to express it. but my request remains open. on such an important issue when the people spike lee about the euro, which is very important point of time, how could it be that you have open discord with mr. sarkozy or mrs. merkel? you

something one hundred twenty or even more one historian joined the european union in two thousand and four most of its residents some of the membership as their ticket to perspire itchy the country drastically cut social spending to feed the e.u. requirements a move has provoked little public discontent to means just tighten their belts and according to the country's finance minister they're ready to do it again this time to lead the irish continue wearing their cloth loose. to avoid obligation if you are. you taken to the club with your summary fear and inviting smile this group has become a boost to child for stoney's inclusion into the euro zone but the reality of this move is proving far less alluring the average unemployment benefit in our line is eight hundred that's more joblessness so when you get the new year and policymakers are trying to portray this issue as a matter of the european union summit stony and see it as a sign of discord in living standards of inequality in shouldering the hardship of the more you are the stony. well we have twenty four hours a day on the line

the european union called those expectations unrealistic, and iran refused to let the u.n. better monitor its nuclear activities. talks broke down with no set date for another meeting. six western powers, including the u.s., make up the european union. >>> president obama says he is determined to do all he can to spur the nation's economy. he told workers yesterday at a general electric plant in upstate new york that his administration's job is to ensure that businesses can take root and people can find good jobs. that's a tall order. the white house chose the ge plant because it had recently expanded and will play a central role in a trade deal with india. the president is also forming a new council, led by ge's ceo to advise him on the best way to create jobs and stay competitive with other countries. >>> on wall street, the dow jones industrial average has now been in positive territory for eight straight weeks. the dow closed yesterday, up 49 points, closing at 11,871. analysts are watching to see if the dow can keep building on its eight-week streak, now that a seven-w

year this year also this year has been very important for washing terms of cooperation with the european union as many european leaders have expressed support for the path to european security treaty proposed by president with a different they expressed their support support for that in principle and today russian foreign minister sergei lavrov has said the draw is prepared to be patient with dialogues and that one. or two of the world are you able to visit russia's proposal of a new system of european security doesn't mean we're expecting our partners to prove it once we want to get together and talk about the problems of your atlantic security we haven't yet agreed on how to solve these problems some don't want to change anything they want to keep european security nato centric others who are more far sighted realize that no. work cooperation with russia as an equal partner all we want is a deep discussion on old levels of cooperation. will the next crucial step towards better cooperation between russia in the european union is introducing a visa free regime upward into russian foreign minis

one hundred twenty or even more when a story you join the european union in two thousand and four most of. the membership is their ticket to perspire achieve the country drastically cut social spending to feed the e.u. requirements a move that provoked little public discontent still means just tighten their belts and according to the country's finance minister they're ready to do it again this time to lead the irish continue wearing their cloth loose you can avoid obligations if you're. taken to the club if your summary fleer and inviting smile this group has become a poster child for stoney's inclusion into the euro zone but the reality of this move is proving far less alluring the average unemployment benefit in our line is eight hundred that's what a joblessness thornier would get in the year and policymakers are trying to portray this issue as a matter of solidarity in the european union some a story and see it as a sign of discord in living standards and inequality in shouldering the hardship of the work of art tallinn estonia. online today few dot c dot com a website fiesta fever